One of Their Own
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: The SVU squad has protected and sought justice for countless victims over the years. But what happens when the victim is one of their own? Will they be able to save him before it's too late? And will he be the only victim of this predator?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Law & Order: SVU or any of its characters.**

**One of Their Own**

Detective Nick Amaro was enjoying a blissful slumber his phone began to ring. He immediately began fumbling around on the dresser for it, knocking down a lamp in the process. Finally he managed to grab it. He checked the caller ID and saw that it was Cragan. That didn't bode well for his sleep needs. It almost definitely meant that he was getting called in.

Nick pressed the 'talk' button and put the phone to his ear. "Amaro."

"_Nick, I need you. We just caught a case," _Cragen said.

Nick sighed. It wasn't unexpected, but it was still depressing. "Alright, I'll be there in twenty."

"_Hang on, we're not at the station. We're in Queens. I'm going to send the address to your phone so you don't forget it…"_

"Hang on, you're at crime scene?" Nick asked surprised. It wasn't often that the captain went to the crime scene. He usually left that to them.

"_Yeah. I need you here as soon as possible,"_ Cragen said.

"Alright. I'll be there soon," Nick said.

"_One more thing, Nick. There's no need to wake Olivia just yet_." The tone of voice Cragen used made it clear that it wasn't a request.

"She's not already there?"

"_No," _was the only thing Cragen said before hanging up.

Nick frowned. He was more than a little confused. Cragen rarely went to crime scenes and he never forbade them from involving other members of the team. Something really weird was going on here.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Nick arrived at the scene just as Amanda was getting out of her car. He immediately parked and got out as well.

"Hey," Amanda greeted when she saw him.

"Hey," Nick said as he walked over to her.

"You know what's going? Cragen called me in and told me not to call Fin," Amanda said.

"He told me the same thing about Liv. What the hell's going on?" Nick asked. Something very weird was going on here. Why would the captain take a case and exclude half the team?"

"Let's go find out," Amanda said before leading the way to the house. Once inside, they both flashed their badges to the officer there. "Which way?"

The officer pointed up the stairs.

They both immediately headed up the stairs. They bypassed the Master bedroom and walked into what looked to be a child's bedroom. The walls were painted baby blue, there was a small bed with race cars on the sheets in the middle, and toys scattered all around. There was also a dead body of a blond woman right next to the bed and blood scattered everywhere. Cragen and Melinda Warner were both leaned over the body.

"Captain?" Nick finally spoke.

Cragen stood up and went over to them. "Hey, guys, thanks for coming."

"What's going on?" Amanda asked.

Cragen looked over at the dead woman sadly. "The call came in an hour ago. A neighbor heard some kind of fight going on, followed by screams. She called 911. Unfortunately, it was too late by then. The officer at the scene immediately called me."

"Was she raped?" Amanda asked.

"It doesn't appear so," Melinda said from her place by the victim.

"Well, then why are we here? I mean, this is awful of course, but what makes it a sex crime?" Nick asked.

"We were called for a couple of reasons. "First, her husband and son are MIA," Cragen said.

"I'm thinking that might be a good thing," Amanda said. She didn't want to think about what might have happened to the kid if he'd been there. That was granted that he wasn't there when it happened. She was hoping that was how it was though.

"Unless the kid was taken out afterwards. What are thinking here, Captain. Domestic thing? Dad kills mom and then takes the kid and runs?" Nick asked. That was most logical thing he could think of. In cases like this, that was usually how it went.

A flash of anger reached Cragan's face. "That's not what happened and I don't want to hear it suggested again!"

Nick backed up in surrender. "Whoa. Sorry, Captain, I didn't mean to piss you off. Do you know this guy or something?"

Cragen calmed down a bit. "Sorry, Nick, I shouldn't have jumped down your throat. It's a natural assumption, but in this case, a wrong one. And, Yes, I know him. He's not capable of something like this. Never."

"So who is this guy?" Amanda asked.

Cragen was about to answer when Melinda called out to him. "Captain."

Cragen immediately went over to her. "You have something."

"Yeah. She was shot straight through the back of the head. My guess is that she didn't even know what was happening. This type of injury would've killed her instantly," Melinda said.

"Okay," Cragen said in a way that made it clear that he wasn't sure where she was going with this.

"This injury wouldn't have caused this much blood spatter and as I said, she probably died instantly, so she wouldn't have moved around the room to spread it to the walls like it is. Also, the body looks undisturbed, so I don't think she was moved. I think you know what I'm saying her, Captain. There was another victim," Melinda said.

Cragan shuttered just thinking about it. "If it was him, could he have survived it."

"Possibly. There is a lot of blood here, but it's possible that it wasn't fatal. However, if it is him and he is alive, you need to find him fast," Melinda said seriously.

"Sorry, but who is this 'he'? Is it the husband? Who is this guy to you, Captain?" Amanda asked.

Cragen stood up and went back over to them. "There was another reason this case went to us. The officer on the scene knew me and knew I'd want to be here. See, the man who lives here is a former NYPD detective. An SVU detective."

Nick began to figure it out. Why Cragen was so protective and why he didn't want Olivia or Fin there. "You mean…?"

Cragen nodded. "The man we're looking for is Former Detective Elliot Stabler."


	2. Chapter 2

Nick and Amanda were searching the rest of the house for signs of that their perp was there. So far they found nothing. "This is going to be very delicate," Amanda said.

"Yeah," Nick agreed. The fact that Stabler was a retired cop alone made it personal, but he was also once a member of the squad. Emotions were going to run high.

"The Captain's already taking it hard. I have no doubt the others will too," Amanda said.

"Liv will not respond well to this," Nick said. Olivia didn't talk about her former partner often, but that didn't mean he didn't matter to her. In fact, in Nick's opinion, the fact that she didn't talk about him spoke volumes about how much she did care about him. Finding out he was missing and possibly kidnapped or worse would send her reeling.

"No, I don't imagine so. He was her partner. If someone did something like this to my partner and his family, I'd be looking to send that person to the morgue," Amanda said as they walked into the kitchen. Again everything was intact. There were no signs that any foul play had been used in the house. "This place is too clean. Aside from the kid's room, we haven't found one shred of evidence that anything out of the ordinary happened here tonight. There should be some sign of a struggle somewhere else."

The killer probably snuck up on them. You heard Warner. Stabler's wife was shot in the back of the head. She didn't even see her assailant," Nick said.

"Stabler's a cop. Retired or not, those instincts stay with you for life. If someone had broken into his home while he was here, he would've known," Amanda said confidently.

"Maybe he wasn't here. Maybe Stabler didn't come home until after the fact or maybe he didn't come home at all. Maybe the other blood isn't his," Nick said. Even as he said it though, he knew it was wishful thinking.

"It's a nice thought, but I don't think so. Someone else was hurt in that house, we know that. That person put up some kind of struggle. It's too much of a coincidence for to not have been Stabler," Amanda said.

"So maybe Stabler comes home after his wife is killed and that's when he's attacked. He tries to make it out of the room, but he doesn't. That would explain why there was no struggle elsewhere," Nick said. It was the best theory he had, though there were holes there too. Like why Stabler would leave his house in the middle of the night.

"Something else is bothering me. The neighbor who called it in said she heard screaming before the attack, but Kathy Stabler was caught unaware by the killer. So what were the screams all about?" Amanda asked.

Nick shook his head. "Your guess is as good as mine. There are a lot of unanswered questions here. I think the most important one is where are Stabler and his little boy?"

"I'm really hoping the kid wasn't here. Maybe he was with a babysitter or something," she said hopefully.

Just then they heard voices from the other room. They immediately walked out to see a patrol officer arguing with a boy and a girl who looked to be in their late teens to early twenties.

"What do you mean we can't be here? This is our parents' house. Where are they?" the boy asked.

"Hey. What's going on here?" Nick asked as they approached.

"You tell us. What's going on here?" the boy asked, or more accurately, demanded.

"We got it from here," Amanda told the officer, indicating that he could leave. "What are your names?"

"I'm Richard Stabler and this is my sister Lizzie."

"Detectives Amaro and Rollins. Why don't we step outside?" Nick suggested.

"No, I'm going anywhere until…"

"Dickie, just do what they ask, okay? You know that's what Dad would say," Lizzie interrupted.

Dickie sighed and walked outside. The others followed behind him.

"So, Dickie, is it?" Nick asked.

"It's Richard to you," Dickie said.

"Okay, Richard. When's the last time you saw your parents?" Nick asked.

"It's been a couple weeks since we've seen them. What's going on? Where are our parents?" Lizzie asked.

"Um, I'm going to go get the captain," Amanda said before going inside.

"You guys usually come to visit in the middle of the night?" Nick asked.

"We're visiting from college and our plane got delayed. Our dad was supposed to pick us up," Dickie asked. He was getting really worried. Why wasn't this detective telling him where his parents were?

"Did they seem distressed at all the last time you spoke?" Nick asked.

"No more so than usual," Lizzie said. Things hadn't really been the same with her parents since her father quit his job. Things had been tense between him and her mother ever since. Not many knew it, but her dad's retirement had a great deal with her mother. She pleaded with him to retire. Said it was for the better of their family. He finally gave in after that last case and it was obvious that he resented her for it.

"What does that mean?" Nick asked.

"It doesn't mean anything. Just tell us what's going on," Dickie said impatiently.

Just then, Cragen came out of house. "Lizzie, Dickie."

"Captain Cragen, good. Maybe you'll give us some answers. What's going on?" Dickie asked. His voice was much less demanding this time. After all, he'd known Cragen since he was a child.

Cragen sighed. He knew he would have to tell them and he had to do it right now. "Guys, I have some bad news. Someone broke into your parents' house tonight."

"No," Dickie said immediately. He knew just from the man's voice what he was going to say.

"I'm sorry, but your mother did not survive the encounter," Cragen said sadly.

"No. No, she can't be dead," Lizzie cried.

"No, it's not true. Get out of my way. I'm going to see my parents," Dickie said as he tried to force himself passed the two men.

Cragen grabbed him lightly by the jacket. "Dickie, no. Believe me when I tell you, you don't want to see your mother like this."

"No, you're wrong. My mom's okay. I just talked to her this morning. She was exited that we were coming home. She can't be gone," Dickie said as his voice began to crack and his hands started shaking. This couldn't be happening. His mom couldn't be dead.

"I'm sorry, son. She is," Cragen said somberly.

"How?" Lizzie asked crying.

"She was shot. Look, I know this is hard, but we need your help right now," Cragen said.

"How can we help?" Dickie asked as he put his arms around his crying twin.

"You said you spoke to your mom this morning. Did she mention anything about your brother being somewhere else tonight?" Cragen asked.

"Wait, Eli's missing?" Dickie asked in horror.

"We don't know. All we know right now is that he's not here. We were hoping you would tell us that he was meant to be somewhere else tonight," Cragen said.

Lizzie shook her head. "No. As far as we knew, he was home with Mom and Dad? Where is he? And where's our dad?"

Cragen cringed. He had really been hoping not to hear that.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Olivia was in the kitchen getting a glass of water. She was having a hard time sleeping. She wasn't sure what it was, but something just felt off tonight. It felt like something was seriously wrong. She knew it sounded crazy, but she just couldn't shake the feeling.

Soon, Olivia heard her phone right. She went into the living room where she left it and picked it up. "Benson."

"_HI, Detective Benson. This is Officer Wilson from Queens."_

"What can I do for you, Officer," Olivia asked.

"_A young boy just stumbled into our precinct with your business card on him,"_ Officer Wilson said.

"My card? What's his name?" Olivia asked. She could only assume it was a victim from one of her former cases, but she wouldn't know who until she knew his name.

"_I don't know. He won't tell us. Actually, he won't talk to us at all. Look, I know it's late, but…"_

"No, it's fine. If there's a child wandering around alone with my card on his person it can't be a good thing. I'll be there as soon as I can," Olivia said before hanging up and going back to her room to get ready.


	3. Chapter 3

Olivia made her way into the Queens Police Department. She immediately went over to the front desk where a young patrol officer was stationed.

"Can I help you, Ma'am?" the officer asked.

Olivia immediately flashed her badge. "Detective Benson, Manhattan SVU. I got a call from…"

"From an Officer Wilson. Yeah, that was me. Thank you for coming so quickly," Officer Wilson said.

"Where's the boy?" Olivia asked.

"He's right over there drawing," the officer pointed to a blond haired little boy sitting at a desk in the middle of the room.

Olivia's jaw nearly hit the floor when she saw the child. She would know that face anywhere. The face of her former partner's son.

Olivia immediately raced over to the young boy. "Eli?"

Eli peered up as soon as he heard his name, but he didn't speak.

Olivia knelt down next to him. "Hey, Eli. Do you remember me? Olivia."

Eli nodded. "Daddy."

"That's right. I'm a friend of your daddy's. Is he here with you?" Olivia asked. She obviously knew he wasn't, but she wanted to handle this as delicately as possible. She had no idea what was going, but she knew it couldn't be good for Eli to show up at a police station by himself. Neither Elliot nor Kathy would let that happen if they could help it.

"So you do know him?"

Olivia turned to see that Officer Wilson was behind her. She hadn't even realized he had joined them. She'd been so focused with Eli and what he was doing there that she noticed barely anything else. "Yeah, I do. Eli, can you tell me how you got here?"

"Daddy," Eli said again.

"Daddy brought you here? Where is your daddy, Eli?" Olivia asked.

"No one was with you when you came in. Did your dad drop you off? Did he leave you here?" the officer said from behind her.

Olivia stood up and pulled the officer aside. "Look, I need you to leave us alone. He's not going to talk with you badgering him." She was sure the officer meant well, but all he would end up doing was scaring the hell out of the kid.

"Ma'am, that kid showed up here on his own. I need to find out what happened to get him here. I need to find out why his parents just abandoned him like this," the officer said

"They did not abandon him," Olivia said firmly. She wasn't going to stand there and listen to her partner be accused of abandoning his son. That was not what happened. Something else was going on.

Detective, he was dropped off at a police station in the middle of the night. What would you call it?" Officer Wilson asked.

"Officer, I have known that child his whole life. I was there the day he was born. I witnessed the fear his mother felt when she thought she might lose him. I saw the look of relief in his father's eyes when he realized that his son was going to be okay and the pure joy after he held him. That child is not abandoned. Something else is going on," Olivia said.

"Then I need to find out what that something is. Who is this boy anyway?" the officer asked.

"His name is Elliot Stabler Jr. His father was a decorated detective in my squad. He was my partner," Olivia told him.

"So the connection you have to this boy is a personal one. Maybe calling you wasn't such a good idea after all," he said.

"Detective Benson?"

Olivia turned to see an officer she knew to be a good friend of Cragen's. "Sergeant Reed, hi. It's nice to see you again."

"You as well, though I'm surprised to see you here. I figured you'd be with your squad," Sergeant Reed said as he made his way over to her.

"It's the middle of the night. Even SVU gets nights off once and a while," Olivia said.

"Well, yes, but after what happened at your partner's house, I figured Don would've called you all in," Reed said.

"I'm afraid I'm not following," Olivia said thoroughly confused.

Reed winced when he realized he'd released information that his old friend clearly didn't want his detective to know. "Uh, I think I just stepped into it. Forget I said anything."

If this guy thought Olivia was going to let that go, he had another thing coming. She grabbed him by the arm as he tried to leave. "Oh, no, you can't just say that and tell me to forget it. What happened to Elliot?"

"Detective, I can't. You're going to have to talk to your captain," Reed said.

Olivia was fuming. She didn't know what was going on, but she did know that Cragen was privy to it and had neglected to tell her. That angered her greatly, as he must have known it would. If something had happened to Elliot, she had the right to know. "Do you see that little boy right there? That is my partner's son. Now something happened to bring him here and I have a feeling it has to do with whatever the hell you're not telling me."

"Detective, you know the chain of command. Now I may not be required to keep Cragen's secrets, but I'm going to. I won't go behind his back," Reed said.

Olivia sighed. She knew she wasn't going to win this one. Reed wasn't going to crack. "Then at least release Eli into my custody. These incidents are interconnected. And if one is ours that means both are."

"Agreed," he said before going over to Officer Wilson. "Wilson, start the paperwork to release the child into Detective Benson's custody."

"Yes, sir," Officer Wilson said before going to do as he was told.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Cragen walked out of his office and headed into the squad room. He'd just deposited Elliot's kids in his office. He would talk to them later once they had a chance to absorb the horror of what happened.

"What do we know?" Cragen asked the two detectives currently in the squad room.

"I'm waiting for word on the Stablers' phone records," Nick said.

"I'm checking hospitals to see if Stabler was admitted," Amanda said with her phone to her ear. "Yes, Detective Elliot Stabler. Okay, thanks," she said before hanging up. "That's three down."

"If Elliot managed to get to a hospital, he wouldn't use his real name. He'd realize that they would be able to track him. Go down in person and flash a photo around," Cragen ordered.

"You got it, Captain," Amanda said before grabbing her stuff, standing up, and walking away.

"Captain, with a missing, injured cop and a missing child, we're not going to be able to handle this with just the three of us," Nick said.

"I know that, Nick. I was just hoping that this thing could be handled without the others. It was wishful thinking. It's clearly not possible. Call Fin," Cragen said.

"What about Liv?" Nick asked.

"I'm going in person. She needs to hear this from me," Cragen said before walking away.


	4. Chapter 4

Fin made his way off the elevator and towards the squad room. He found Nick there at his desk. "Alright, man, it's four in the morning. This better be good.

"It's not, man. It's not good at all," Nick said seriously.

"What's going on? And where is everybody?" Fin asked as he went over to his desk and took off his jacket.

"Amanda's doing something for the case and the captain went to get Liv," Nick told him.

"Why's my partner following leads without me? More to the point, why are you guys working a case without me? And what do you mean Cragen's going to get Liv?" Fin asked. Something fishy was going on here. He had a feeling that whatever case they were investigating had been in progress for a little bit now. Why hadn't they told him about? Why hadn't he been called with the others?

Nick sighed. "Cragen called me in a couple hours ago, Amanda too. He ordered us not to call you or Liv. He wanted to wait and see how things played out."

"Wait, Liv doesn't know about this either? What the hell is going on?" Fin asked. The captain had never kept half the team out of an investigation before. Whatever was going on was big and he wanted to know about it now.

"There was a murder in Queens. A woman was murdered in her kid's bedroom," Fin said.

"In her kid's bedroom. Man, it takes a truly sick bastard to do that. But why hide it from Liv and me. And why's Queens calling us in?" Fin asked. Queens had their police department. The case should've gone to them.

"The lead on the case knew Cragen and knew he'd want to be involved," Nick said.

"Why? And what aren't you saying, man?" Fin asked. Even if he didn't already know Nick was hiding something from him, it would be fairly obvious. The evasiveness was clear in his voice.

Nick sighed. "The woman who died, her husband was an NYPD detective. It was Stabler."

Fin's eyes widened and he swore under his breath. He hadn't expected to hear that. Though now things began to make sense. This was why Cragen hadn't called him or Liv. He probably didn't want to tell them until he knew what wasn't going on. "So the woman who died was Kathy. Man, that's gonna kill Elliot. Where is he?"

"We don't know," Nick said quietly.

'What do you mean you don't know? No one's told him yet?" Fin asked.

Nick knew Fin must have misunderstood what he was saying. He seemed to think he was saying no one had located Stabler to tell him his wife was dead. "I'm pretty sure he knows. We think he was in the house and in the room where his wife died. But now he's gone. He's missing."

Fin immediately got what his colleague was saying. It wasn't just that they couldn't reach Elliot. He was MIA. Something had happened to him in that house. "How sure are you?"

"Warner found some blood that she thinks belong to someone other than Kathy Stabler. The blood tests haven't come back yet, but we're pretty sure it'll match Stabler's. It gets worse," Nick said.

"How the hell can it possibly get worse?" Fin asked. Elliot being missing and Kathy dead seemed about as bad as it could possibly get.

"His kid's missing too," Nick said.

Fin collapsed in the chair behind his desk. Nick was right. It got worse. Elliot being gone was one thing, but now his little boy was gone too. This was bad. This was really bad. "Damn it. Okay, so to summarize, Kathy's dead and Elliot and Eli are missing. What do we have for a theory."

"We haven't gotten that far. All we know is what I've told you. Amanda's out there now checking hospitals, just in case Stabler got away and is seeking medical attention," Nick said.

Fin shook his head. "No, not if he got away with Eli. He won't risk a hospital if he there's a possibility that these SOB's would find him and get to his kid."

"If he got him," Nick said.

"If he didn't then he didn't get away. Either he's dead, and seeing as there's no body, I doubt it, or he let them take him too. There's no way he left his boy to fend for himself with whoever did this," Fin said knowingly. He knew Elliot well, not as well as Liv, but enough. He knew that no way in hell would Elliot Stabler allow his kid to be taken away without either going with him or fighting to the death.

"Okay, so say they got away. Where's Stabler gonna go?" Nick asked.

"He's gonna make sure his kid is safe first and foremost. How he's gonna go about that is anyone's guess. Right now, I think we should just piece together what happened. It's bothering me that this dirtbag chose to attack in Eli's room. Why would he do that?"

"Well, we're thinking this guy caught Kathy by surprise. Warner thinks she was shot from behind," Nick told him.

Fin pondered that for a minute. "So maybe Kathy hears a noise in her kid's room and goes to check on him. When she gets there, she's taken out."

"That suggests that it was the boy they were after. Maybe this whole thing was a kidnapping go wrong," Nick said.

"It's possible," Fin said. He didn't really wanna think about someone trying to abduct Elliot's son, but it was possible. It was also possibly that the bastard had gone in there to kill Eli to get to Elliot and Kathy interrupted him, but he refused to even voice that theory. It didn't bode well for either of them if it was true.

"There's something that doesn't make sense with anything though. Neighbors heard screaming prior to the shooting, but Kathy was supposed to be unaware of what was happening."

"It's possibly that was separate. Elliot and his wife have had problems before. Maybe they just got into a fight," Fin said.

"Yeah, maybe," Nick said before looking at his watch. The captain should be back soon with Liv.

"I wouldn't be too sure. She's probably going to lay into him quite a bit. She's not going to be happy about being kept in the dark.

"Yeah, you got that right," A familiar face said.

Fin and Nick both turned to see Olivia a few feet away looking none too pleased.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Cragen approached Olivia's apartment. He took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he was about to tell her and then knocked on the door. Much to his surprise, the door wasn't shut all the way and opened a bit as soon as he knocked.

Cragen cautiously opened the door further and stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw. The apartment was completely trashed.


	5. Chapter 5

Olivia was beyond pissed. She'd barely managed to get Eli to the station and to the crib without losing it. Then she came to the squad room to see Nick and Fin there. They obviously knew what was going on. Why else would they be there in the middle of the night? That meant that she'd been deliberately excluded by every single member of her squad. It was bad enough when it was just Cragen, but now it was clear that everyone knew but her.

"Liv," Nick said quietly.

"Nick," Olivia retorted in a clearly ticked off voice. "Would somebody like to tell me just what the hell is going on?"

"Wait, you don't know already?" Nick asked. He'd assumed Cragen had found her and told her. How else would she have known to come to the station?

"The only thing I know is that something is going on with someone who I've counted on to have my back for the majority of my career and no one here bothered to tell me!" Olivia yelled.

Fin put up his arms in surrender. "Whoa, down, girl. I've known for all of ten minutes, okay? I was kept just as much in the dark as you were."

Okay, that made Olivia feel a little better, but she was still pretty pissed. She zeroed in on Nick. "What about you? How long have you known?"

"A few hours. Look, I'm sorry, Liv, but the captain ordered me not to tell you," Nick said.

"I don't care. You're supposed to be my partner! You should've told me," Olivia said angrily. She wasn't giving him a pass for this. He should've told her. Elliot would've told her.

Just then, Amanda's voice was heard. "I checked every hospital between here and Queens. No sign of…" She trailed off when she finally noticed Fin and Olivia were there. "Um…"

"It's okay, they know," Nick told her.

"Correction, Fin knows. I'm still mostly in the dark here. Why were you checking hospitals, Amanda?" Olivia asked.

Nick sighed and began to fill his partner in. He got about as far as Kathy Stabler's murder before Olivia interrupted him.

"Kathy's dead? Oh my God," Olivia said before going over and sitting at her desk. All she could think about was Elliot and his children. Especially the children. They had just lost their mother. Eli would probably forget about her before long. It was just so horrible. "Okay, go on."

"It was a blood bath in there, Liv. That entire room was covered in it," Nick said sadly.

"Hang on, I thought you said Kathy was shot in the head and that she died instantly," Olivia said.

Nick cringed. He knew Olivia wouldn't take what he was about to say well. "Warner thinks there was a second injured party in the room. She thinks that's where there the rest of the blood came from."

"You mean she thinks it's Elliot's," Olivia surmised for him.

Nick nodded.

"It doesn't mean he's dead, Liv," Fin told her.

"He's not. At least he wasn't a couple hours ago," Olivia told him.

"How do you know that? Did you talk to him? Is that how you knew something was up?" Fin asked.

"No, I didn't talk to him, but he certainly left a message. I got a call earlier from the Queens police. Apparently a little boy showed up with my card on him," Olivia said.

"Eli," Fin said immediately. It was too much of a coincidence for it not to be him.

"Wait, you have the kid?" Nick asked.

"Eli's upstairs in the crib," Olivia said.

"Should've known," Fin said.

"What?" Amanda asked.

"If there's one person Elliot would trust to take care of his kid if he couldn't do it, it's Liv," Fin said.

"So this also means he made it out. Stabler wasn't taken. He made it out of that house on his own and got his son to safety. The question is where is he now?"

"Laying low. If I know Elliot, he's somewhere trying to figure out what his next move is," Liv said.

"I think it's time we figure out what our next move is. The only problem is that we have no idea what happened. All we know is that Kathy Stabler was killed in the boy's room and that…"

"Whoa, hold on. You didn't say this happened in Eli's room," Olivia said. The disturbed her more than anything else said tonight had. That meant that Eli most likely witnessed the death of his mother's death. No wonder the kid barely spoke. He was probably severely traumatized. God, it must have killed Elliot to leave him in that condition.

"Yeah. We think it might have been an abduction gone wrong?" Nick said.

Olivia shook her head. "No. If Elliot thought for one second that this was about Eli, he never would've left him. This is about him. My guess is that Kathy was just collateral damage. The perp probably entered through Eli's room and made a bit too much noise. "

"Causing Kathy to think maybe Eli fell and go check on him," Fin added.

"Then our guy shoots her and alerts Stabler," Amanda predicted.

"Then it's anybody's guess what happened before Elliot got away with Eli," Fin said.

"Now we just have to figure out who did it and why," Nick said.

"That's going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. You got any idea how many people he's pissed off over the years? Not just perps either. You got family members of the perps, potential suspects, hell, even some cops and lawyers considered him an enemy," Fin said.

"We have to get into his case files. We should start now. It's going to take a while. Hey, has Munch been called in?" Liv asked.

Fin shook his head. "He's in Albany with his girl, remember? Won't be back until Monday," Fin said.

"Well, he's coming back early. We need all the bodies we can get," Olivia said as she picked up the phone to call him.

Just then, Nick's phone rang. He immediately picked it up. "Amaro."

"_Nick,"_ Cragen's face said on the other line.

"Hey, Captain, where are you?" Nick asked. It had been a while since Cragen had left to go find Liv. He should've realized she wasn't home and been back by now.

"_I need you, Fin, and Amanda at Olivia's apartment now!"_ Cragen said urgently.

Nick sat forward in his chair. "Why, what's wrong?"

"_Her place has been broken into and she's now missing. Get down here."_

Before Nick could even tell him that half that statement wasn't accurate, the line went dead. He thought about calling back, but given the Captain's tone, he figured it would be better just to show up with Liv in person.

Olivia hung up her phone. "Munch isn't picking up."

"Liv, your place just got ransacked," Nick told her.

"What?" Olivia asked in surprise.

"Yeah, and the captain thinks you're missing. He hung up before I could tell him otherwise. We gotta get down there," Nick said.

Olivia shook her head. "I can't leave Eli."

"His brother and sister are here. They can look out for him," Nick said.

"What? Dickie and Lizzie are here? Why didn't you tell me that?" Olivia asked. She just assumed it was the twins. Dickie was obvious. She assumed Lizzie was the one with him because out of all his siblings, Dickie was closest to his twin.

"We were a little distracted by other things," Nick said.

"Well, I have to go to them," Olivia said. She needed to be there for partner's kids. She needed to let them know she was going to do everything possible to bring their father home.

"No, you need to go to your apartment and find out what the hell's going on. I'll stay with the kids," Fin told her.

Olivia felt torn. She wanted to stay and help the kids, but she really did need to go and find out what was going on at her place. "Okay, just tell them I'll come talk to them as soon as I got back.

Fin nodded.

With that, Olivia, Nick, and Amanda got up and left.


	6. Chapter 6

Olivia led Nick and Amanda into her apartment. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw it. It was complete trashed. Furniture was turned over and possessions were all over the floor. "Oh my God."

They all heard a noise from the back and then Cragen appeared. Upon seeing Olivia, he immediately rushed over. "Olivia? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I wasn't here. My God, I was only gone a couple hours," Olivia said. It was hard to believe that someone had shown up and done so much damage to her place in such a short amount of time.

"She was with us when you called. You hung up before I had the chance to tell you. I figured it was best to just come with her in person," Nick said.

"How'd you know to go to the station?" Cragen asked

Olivia couldn't help but glare at her boss. "You mean how did I know that something was wrong with my former partner given that you didn't bother to tell me?"

Cragen wasn't surprised by the anger in his detective's voice. He'd expected it. "Later, okay. We've got enough going on right now. So why did you go to the station?"

"I got a call a couple of hours ago from the Queens precinct. The officer on the phone said that a young boy was there with my card on him. Care to guess who that boy was?" Olivia asked.

"Eli," Cragen realized after a moment. It was too much of a coincidence not to be him. No way would another child show up in Queens with Olivia's card on the exact night that Elliot and his son disappeared. "How did he get there?"

"When I asked him, he said 'Daddy'. He hasn't said anything else," Olivia told him.

"So then Elliot got away," Cragen guessed.

"That's what we're thinking. He fought his way out and got his son to safety," Nick said.

"Well, that's something. At least we know Eli's safe. Where is he now?" Cragen asked.

"At the precinct. Fin's keeping an eye on him and the twins," Olivia said.

Cragen looked around at the ransacked apartment. "Alright, I think it's safe to say that whoever went after Elliot trashed your place. We need to establish a timeline. Exactly how long were you gone?"

"No more than two hours," Olivia told him.

"My God, Liv, if you hadn't gotten that call…"

"Let's not go there, Nick," Cragen said. He didn't want to think about what would've happened if Olivia had been home. He'd seen enough at Elliot's house to know that it would've ended badly.

"You know, this place is much more torn up than Stabler's. Is there any chance it wasn't Liv this guy was looking for but something she had?" Amanda asked.

"I can't imagine what it would be. I haven't seen Elliot in over a year. What could I have connected to him?" Olivia asked.

"What if it was the kid? You and Stabler were partner's for what? Thirteen years?"

Olivia nodded.

"So whoever did this might know that Stabler would trust you with his son. Maybe that's who this guy was looking for. Kids are small and can hide easily. Maybe he was searching for the kid," Nick said.

"We're going back to your child abduction scenario? I told you, Elliot would never let go of Eli if he thought he was in danger," Olivia reminded him.

"Yeah, but Fin also made the point that Stabler trusts you beyond anyone else. He probably felt you would be able to protect his son," Nick argued.

"There's also the possibility that Stabler didn't know his attacker's true intention," Amanda said.

"Alright, we can argue theory later. For the moment, we're going to assume that whoever broke in here was after you, Liv," Cragen said.

"Captain…" Olivia started only to be interrupted.

"That means that you will be staying at the station at night until this is resolved and you don't go anywhere alone for any reason," Cragen said sternly.

Olivia didn't have any problem with the first part. She had no intention of leaving the station other than to check out leads until Elliot was found. She was, however, annoyed by the second part. She didn't need protection. She could protect herself. "Captain, this is unnecessary."

"It's the way it's going to be. One cop missing is more than enough," Cragen said. While Elliot might be retired, in Cragen's mind he was still a cop. More importantly, he was still one of them.

"So what's the next move?" Nick asked.

Cragen was quiet for a few moments before answering. "Rollins, get on the phone. Wake up every cop in the precinct. We need bodies and lots of them. Call Munch back from his mini vacation as well."

"I tried Munch already. He didn't pick up," Olivia said.

"Well, we're going to keep trying until we get him," Cragen said.

"Got it, blow up his phone," Amanda said before taking her phone out and walking out of the apartment.

"We need to find the rest of the Stabler kids. There is every chance that whoever is behind this might go after them to get to Elliot. Not to mention that they need to be informed of their mother's death," Cragen said.

"Let me handle that, Captain," Olivia requested. She had to be the one to tell Maureen and Kathleen what had happened. She couldn't let them hear it from a stranger.

"Do you even know where they are?" Cragen asked.

"I know where Maureen was a year ago. I'll start there," Olivia said.

"You're taking Nick with you," Cragen said. He was sticking to what he said earlier. He didn't want Olivia going anywhere alone until this situation was resolved.

"Fine," Olivia said. She would've preferred to speak to the girls alone, but she knew it was an argument she wasn't going to win and one they didn't have time for.

Cragen nodded his permission for them to go.

"Let's go," Olivia told Nick before leading the way out of her apartment.


	7. Chapter 7

Nick pulled his car up the apartment building Olivia had directed him to and parked the car. He went to get out, but then he felt Olivia's hand on his arm.

"I need you to wait here, Nick. I have to do this alone," Olivia said. Telling Maureen that her mother was dead and her father missing was the hardest thing she'd ever have to tell anyone. She couldn't do it with Nick there. She had to do it alone.

"Cragen said…"

"He said you had to come with me. He didn't say you had to follow me inside. Look, going in there with you would be like two cops going in to make a notification," Olivia said.

"And that's not what it is?" Nick asked.

"No," Olivia said simply.

"You care a great deal about these kids, don't you?" Nick asked.

"More than you'll ever know. Elliot was more than my partner, Nick. He was my best friend. I didn't spend a lot of time with his kids, but they knew me. They trusted me and I think they liked me. I was there the day Eli was born. I helped give him a safe passage into this world. Those kids are as important to me as Elliot is," Olivia said firmly.

Nick didn't need her to tell him what that meant. He knew Stabler meant went a lot to her. He knew even before today. He'd accepted long ago that those were shoes he would never be able to fill. "Okay. But be careful."

Olivia smiled gratefully and got out of the car. She walked inside and climbed two sets of stairs to the third floor. She then knocked on the first door on the right.

It took a few minutes, but the door was finally opened by a blond haired young woman in a white bathrobe. "Olivia?"

Olivia forced a smile on her face. "Hi, Maureen."

"Hi. Not that it's not great to see you, Olivia, but what are you doing her at five in the morning?" Maureen said.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, but this couldn't wait," Olivia said.

"No, it's okay. I just got up. I have to get ready for work. But what brings you here?" Maureen asked again.

"Could I come in?" Olivia asked.

"Of course," Maureen said before stepping aside to let Olivia in.

"Thank you," Olivia said before walking inside. "Uh, do you know where Kathleen is? I'm going to need to talk to her too," Olivia said.

Maureen closed the door behind her. "Yeah, she's here. Her place is getting fumigated so she's staying with me. Hey, Kat, get out here!"

They both heard a door opened, followed by footsteps. Kathleen came out in pajama's seconds later. "You know, just because you have to get up before the birds doesn't mean the rest of us… Olivia."

"Hi, Kathleen. It's good to see you again. It's good to see both of you again," Olivia said. And it was. She just wished these weren't the circumstances in which she was seeing them.

"So what's going on, Liv? Is everything okay?" Maureen asked.

"Is it Dad?" Kathleen asked concerned. Her father was no longer with the department, but Olivia being there like this so early in the morning gave her a terrible foreboding feeling that something was wrong with him.

"Why don't we sit down?" Olivia asked gently.

Kathleen opened her mouth to argue, but Maureen stopped her. "Kat, don't complain. Just do it so we can find out what's going on quicker.

Kathleen nodded and followed her sister to the couch where they both sat down.

Olivia sat down on the loveseat across from them. "Guys, something has happened. Something bad. There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to come out with it. Last night there was a break-in at your parents' house."

"Oh my God! Are they okay?" Maureen asked in horror.

"Was it a burglary?" Kathleen asked.

"We're not entirely sure what the motivation was, but we're pretty sure it wasn't a robbery," Olivia said.

"Well, what happened? Are our parents okay? What about Eli?" Kathleen asked.

"Eli is fine. He's at the station as we speak," Olivia said. That was at least one piece of good news she could give.

"What about Mom and Dad?" Maureen asked.

Olivia took a deep breath to prepare for what she was about to say. "We think the intruder entered through Eli's room and made a bit too much noise. You mother went to check on him and… I'm so sorry."

Maureen shook her head wildly at the implication. "No."

"Wait, you're not saying that she's…" Kathleen couldn't even bring herself to say the word. It was too horrible.

"I'm sorry. Your mother was shot and killed as soon as she entered the room," Olivia told them as gently as she could.

"No!" Kathleen screamed as she clutched her sister's arm.

"You've gotta be wrong. Live, please tell me you're wrong! Please tell me our mom's not dead!" Maureen cried loudly.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I wish I could. The ME said she went quick, that she died instantly. I know it's not much of a comfort, but it's unfortunately the only one I can offer you. I'm so sorry," Olivia said again.

"What about Dad? Oh, Liv, please don't tell us he's dead too," Kathleen begged through tears.

"He was hurt, but we believe he's alive," Olivia said.

"You believe? You haven't found him?" Maureen asked. She wasn't sure what was worse. Her mother being dead or not knowing her father's fate at all.

"No, but we know he made it out of the house alive," she said.

"How?" Kathleen asked.

"He took Eli to the Queens Police Department and gave him my card," Olivia told her.

"But you don't know what happened to him afterwards. What if he is dead? What if he dropped Eli off so he wouldn't have to watch him die?" Maureen asked.

Olivia cringed. She had been trying really hard not to think of that scenario, but she couldn't deny it was possibility. It was definitely something Elliot would do, especially given the probability of Eli witnessing Kathy's murder. Elliot would've done anything to prevent that from happening again.

"No, don't say that," Kathleen cried.

Olivia put a hand on each of their arms. "Look, I can't say for sure what happened, but your father is strong. If there is any way for him to survive this, he will find it."

"Who would do this? Who would do this to our family?" Maureen asked.

"We don't have all the answers yet, but we think it was someone from a prior case. For that reason, we need to bring you both into protective custody. Whoever did this might come after you to get to Elliot," Olivia told them.

"Oh my God! Dickie and Lizzie! They were supposed to come home last night. We have to find them," Maureen said.

"Dickie and Lizzie are fine. They're at the station as we speak," Olivia assured them.

"So they know?" Kathleen asked.

Olivia nodded. "Yeah, they know. Listen, I know how hard all this is for you guys, but I need you to come with me. No matter what else, I know your father would want you to be safe."

Maureen nodded. "Okay. Let us just get dressed."

Just then they all heard loud bangs from outside. Olivia, knowing exactly what it was, stood up and got out her gun. "Get somewhere enclosed and don't move until I get back."

Maureen and Kathleen immediately headed for the bathroom.

Olivia rushed out of the apartment and downstairs. She ran out and looked around with her gun drawn. Whoever had taken the shots was gone. She then noticed her partner's car a few feet away riddled with bullet holes. "Nick!"

Olivia ran over to the driver's side of the car. Nick was by it with two bullet holes in his chest. She immediately got down and checked his pulse. He was alive, but just barely. She took off her coat and applied it to his chest before taking out her phone and dialing 911. "This is Detective Olivia Benson. I need a bus at the Crestfield apartments. I have an officer down! Repeat Officer down!"


	8. Chapter 8

Fin was currently on the phone calling every cop he could come up with to come in and aid in the search for Elliot and the investigation into his wife's murder. "I don't care if it's your day off. We've got a missing retired cop. Get your ass in here!" he ordered before hanging up.

Amanda was also on the phone. "Yeah, I'll see you then. Bye."

"Tell me that was Munch," Fin said.

"It was. Apparently he got drunk last night. It explains why he didn't answer. He probably passed out and slept through the calls. Anyway, he's coming in, though he's too happy about it. I didn't give him any details, just told him to come in. I figured he should hear it in person," Amanda said.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Fin said. The closest person on the squad to Elliot was Olivia, but that didn't mean that this wasn't affecting the rest of them. It would affect Munch too. He didn't need that in his head while he was driving back from Albany.

Just then Cragen came out of his office. "Please tell me someone has gotten ahold of Munch."

"I just talked to him. He's on his way," Amanda said.

"Good. I just spoke with Warner. The other blood at the scene was a match for Elliot," Cragen said.

Fin cringed. He'd pretty much expected that to be the case, but being prepared for something and hearing it as fact were too different things. "Okay, well, we know he didn't die in that house. He made it out to get his kid to safety."

"Unfortunately, that's all we know. Any word from Benson and Amaro?" Fin asked.

"Not yet, but I don't think that's surprising. Telling two girls that their mother is dead and their father missing is no easy task," Amanda said.

Just then Fin's phone began ringing. He immediately picked it up. "Tutuola. Oh, hey, Liv. We were just talking… What?! Is he alive?"

That got the attention of both Cragen and Amanda. Amanda got up and walked over to Fin's desk.

"Okay, we'll be there. Hang tight, Girl," Fin said before hanging up.

"Did she find Elliot?" Cragen asked surprised.

"No," Fin said as he stood up and grabbed his gun and badge. "Amaro just got shot."

"What?" Cragen asked in shock.

"Oh my God!" Amanda gasped.

"It happened outside Maureen Stabler's apartment building. Liv heard the shots and went outside to find the car shot up and Nick on the ground," Fin said.

"How bad?" Cragen asked in concern.

"Bad. He took two shots to the chest. He's alive, but they don't know how long he's gonna stay that way," Fin said.

"Let's go," Cragen said before running towards the exit. Amanda and Fin both followed him.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Olivia was sitting in the waiting room waiting to hear news on Nick. Maureen and Kathleen were on their way to the station. She'd sent them with a couple of uniforms. She didn't like the idea of leaving them, but she had to focus on her partner. He was the one who was in real trouble right now. And he was like that because of her.

"Olivia!"

Olivia turned to see Cragen, Fin, and Amanda headed her way. She immediately got up to meet them.

"How is he?" Cragen asked.

"He's in surgery. He's bad, Captain. They're not sure he's going to make it," Olivia said.

"Did you see who did it?" Cragen asked. He wanted to nail this son of a bitch in the worst way. In the course of six hours, two of what he considered to be his had been attacked.

Olivia shook her head. "It was over by the time I got down there."

"This doesn't make any sense. Why Nick? If this was about a case from the past like what we thought, why go after him? He has connection to Stabler whatsoever. They never even met," Amanda said.

"From now on, we treat this as an attack on SVU as a whole. That means we all have to be on guard. No one goes anywhere alone," Cragen said firmly.

"Got it, Captain," Fin said.

"Alright, you two head back and process the crime scene where Amaro was shot. Don't leave a single stone unturned," Cragen ordered.

"But Nick…" Amanda started.

"I'll call as soon as we know something. We can't afford to stop investigating now. We still need to find Elliot and put the bastard who did all this behind bars. Go," Cragen said.

Fin and Amanda both nodded and immediately headed out.

Olivia went back over to her seat and sat back down.

Cragen sat down next to her. "It's going to be okay, Liv."

"I asked him to stay in the car. I told him I wanted to talk to Maureen and Kathleen alone," Olivia said.

"Liv, I know where you're going with this and don't! What happened to Nick wasn't your fault." It wasn't hard for him to figure out that she was blaming herself. He could hear it in her voice.

"If I had let him come in with me, it wouldn't have happened," Olivia said guiltily. All she could do was go over what happened over and over again. She felt so guilty for telling Nick to wait. She left him as a sitting duck.

"Or maybe they would've waited for you all to come out and all four of you would've been here or worse. The truth is we don't know what would've happened if Amaro had gone in with you. We can't think about that. We have to deal with what is happening now," Cragen said.

"What's happening now is the only two partners I've have had in the last decade and a half are fighting for their lives," Olivia said. She didn't know Elliot's status, but she did know that no matter what, he was fighting for survival, just like Nick was.

"We're going to find out who's responsible for this. But in the meantime, you can't hold yourself responsible. Don't give this son of a bitch that kind of power over you," Cragen said.

"Who would do this? Who would have the balls to try to assassinate two cops?" Olivia asked.

"Three. I think we can safely assume that if he'd found you in your apartment, you would've been another victim," Cragen said.

Just then Olivia's phone began to ring. She immediately took it out and answered it. "Benson."

"Liv," spoke a soft and pain filled voice.

Olivia froze when she heard that voice. It was a voice she'd know anywhere no matter how long it had been. It was the voice of Elliot Stabler.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This chapter is everything that's happened from Elliot's POV**

Elliot made his way home at around two in the morning. He'd just gotten off of work. He worked for a security company in town. Normally he got out much earlier, but he decided to pick up a few more hours.

Elliot made his way upstairs and to his bedroom. He was very quiet as he walked inside as to not wake Kathy. He knew she would probably want to start an argument about how late he was getting home and he was not in the mood for that.

The light soon turned on, causing Elliot to cringe. Kathy had obviously waited up for him.

"Where have you been?" Kathy asked.

"Where do you think I've been? I've been working," Elliot said before taking his gun from his belt and placing it temporarily on the dresser.

"You were supposed to get off hours ago," Kathy said, as she got out of bed.

"Yeah, well, when Lizzie and Dickie said their plane would be delayed several hours, I decided to pick up some extra hours," Elliot said.

"You've been doing a lot of that lately," Kathy said pointedly.

Elliot sighed and turned to her. "Don't do this now, Kathy. It's two-o-clock in the morning and I'm exhausted."

"Well, if you didn't keep working all these hours, you wouldn't be so tired," Kathy argued.

"What do you want from me? I'm not going to stop working altogether," Elliot said in exasperation.

"It's not just the extra hours. Ever since you quit the force, you haven't been yourself," Kathy said.

"Yeah, well, whose fault is that," Elliot asked bitterly. He'd quit his job because Kathy wanted him to. Yes, he'd been plenty upset after the death of that girl, but he wasn't going to quit. He was just taking his time to try to work through what he had done. But then Kathy came along while he was down and told him that quitting was best for their family. That they'd all be happier if he stopped being a cop. So he did it. He didn't want to, but he did it for his family. He never forgave Kathy for it though.

"You're blaming me for that? I didn't make you quit," Kathy said.

"No, you just used emotional blackmail to get me to do it! 'It's better for the family, Elliot' you said!" Elliot yelled as he began to change clothes.

"It was! You were always so distant back then. Your job was affecting you at home!" Kathy yelled back

"Oh, and things are somehow different now? You nag me about the same things you did then. The only things that have really changed are that I hate my job and I resent you for pushing me into quitting!" Elliot practically screamed. And there it was. Everything he'd been thinking for nearly a year now but could never bring himself to say out loud.

Elliot and Kathy were so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Neither knew what to say now. Then suddenly they both heard a thud from Eli's room.

"He probably fell out of bed. I'll go make sure he's okay," Kathy said before walking out of the room.

Elliot sighed and went back to changing. He took off the top to his uniform and put on a gray tee-shirt to sleep in.

It was then that he heard it. A loud bang echoed throughout the house. Elliot immediately knew what it meant. He'd heard it way too many times in his life to not what it was. It was a gunshot.

The next thing Elliot heard was the bloodcurdling screams of his little boy. He immediately grabbed his gun from the dresser and practically leaped out of the room. He ran to his son's room. What he saw when he got there horrified him more than anything ever had, and given his former profession, that was saying a lot.

Kathy was laying on the ground by Eli's bed with a bullet in the back of her head. It was very clear that she was dead. Eli, meanwhile, was on his bed screaming his head off.

Elliot barely had time to register what had just happened to his family when he heard someone to his right. He turned just in time to see someone in a mask take a shot at him. He leaped inside the room and fell to the floor just narrowly escaping the bullet. The gun he had fell out of his hands and slid across the room. He looked down at himself and noticed a large red blood stain near his shoulder. It seemed he hadn't escaped that bullet after all. He didn't really have much to contemplate that though because the masked man who shot him and killed his wife came into the room.

Elliot knew there was no way he'd get to his gun before his assailant got to him, so instead he got up and charged him. He knew it could quite possibly end in his death, but it was the only chance, however remote, that he could save his own life and the life of his child.

Elliot was able to tackle the man to the ground and grabbed his gun, causing a struggle between them. However, it wasn't long before he found himself kneed in the stomach and the tables turned on him. Now he was underneath his attacker and was losing the fight over the gun. "You're dead, Stabler!" the man yelled

Elliot looked over at his little boy who was sitting on his bed still screaming in fear. Elliot knew he had to get his son out of there. He might not be able to save his own life, but he would be damned if Eli died. "Eli! Eli, run!"

Eli continued to scream. It was clear that he hadn't heard his father.

"Eli, look at me!" Elliot yelled as loud as he could. Soon he saw the boy's eyes turn to him. "Run! Get out of here now!"

Eli got out of bed and ran out of the room. He was crying the entire time.

Elliot concentrated on the fight at hand. He continued to struggle for control over the gun. He raised it upward and managed to hit his attacker in the face with it, temporarily dazing him.

Elliot immediately pushed him off of him and started out of the room. He hit the wall a couple of times first, probably due to dizziness from blood loss. He ran down the stairs as fast as he could and out the front door. He found Eli on the couch and immediately grabbed him. He ran with him to the car and got inside. Luckily, he hadn't finished changing clothes and had his keys in his pocket.

Just was Elliot was putting the key into the ignition he saw his attacker come out and fire off a shot. Elliot immediately started the car and peeled out of there.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Elliot made it to the Queens police station about an hour later. He'd driven around for a while first to make sure he wasn't being followed.

Eli had stopped screaming since then. He had been reduced to small whimpers now and then and he was shaking like a leaf. Though after what he saw, Elliot couldn't blame him.

Elliot stopped the car in front of the building and opened the glove compartment. He pulled out a business card with Olivia's name on it and got out of the car. He then went over to the passenger side and helped Eli out of the car. He led him over to the door and knelt beside him. "Hey, buddy, I know you're scared right now, but I need you to do something for me, okay? I need you to go inside and give this to one of the policemen," he said as he held out the card.

Eli took reached a shaky hand towards his father and took the card.

"That's a good boy. Everything's going to be alright. Just go inside, okay?" Elliot asked. He hated to leave his son, but he didn't see another choice. There was someone out there gunning for him. He didn't know who he was, but he knew it was personal. That was proven when the bastard had called him by name. And he obviously had no problem killing people Elliot cared about to get to him. He proved that when he murdered Kathy.

Elliot shuddered when he thought about Kathy. He had been trying not to think about Kathy, but it was hard not to. She was his wife and the mother of his children. And now she was dead.

Elliot shook those thoughts away. He couldn't think about that right now. He was fighting for his life and his son's. If he survived whatever was going on, there would be plenty of time to grieve later. "I love you, Eli. Everything's going to be okay. Now you go in there like I said, okay?"

Eli looked very reluctant and began to whimper even more.

Elliot grabbed his son by the shoulders to comfort him. "No, it's okay, buddy. The police are our friends, remember?"

Eli nodded.

"That's right. It'll be fine. You go do as I said and they'll call a friend of Daddy's to come get you," Elliot said. Liv would keep Eli safe while he attempted to find out what was going on. Other than that though, he wouldn't involve her. He wouldn't involve anyone. This guy had managed to figure out where he lived and where his son slept. He executed Kathy without a second though. Elliot didn't know what else the bastard was capable of and he wasn't going to risk anyone else.

Eli still seemed reluctant, but with an encouraging nod from his father, he headed inside.

Elliot watched from the window as an officer approached Eli and Eli handed him Olivia's card. He then got back into his car and drove off.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

A couple of hours later, Elliot made it to his mother's old place at the beach. His mother had passed a several months earlier and he hadn't sold it, so it was empty. Plus, no one who knew him would expect him to go there.

Once inside, Elliot went up to the bathroom and grabbed a towel. He pressed it to his wounded shoulder, hissing in pain as it connected. He was bleeding a lot by now and it was unclear to him whether or not he'd survive it without medical attention. That was another reason he left Eli. If he was going to die, he was going to do it without his son seeing it. It was bad enough that he'd seen Kathy die.

Elliot staggered back downstairs and into the living room and sat down on the couch. He leaned back and thought about everything that had happened. He couldn't believe that in just a few hours his wife had been killed and he was on the run. But at least Eli was safe.

A horrifying though suddenly occurred to him. Eli was safe, but what about his other children. What if the man after him went after one of them to get to him? He couldn't let that happen. He had to make sure they were safe.

Elliot got up and went into the kitchen. He grabbed the phone and dialed a number he remember even after nearly a year of not using it. He pressed the phone to his ear and waited. Once the other person greeted him, he said one word. "Liv."


	10. Chapter 10

Olivia was so shocked by the voice of her former partner that she couldn't form words. She hadn't expected Elliot to call her. She figured she'd have to find him the old fashioned way. By investigating until she uncovered what happened. Yet here he was at the other end of the phone line.

Cragen noticed the change in his detective's demeanor almost immediately. "Liv, is everything alright?"

"_Liv, don't tell him it's me, please. I don't want to put anyone else in danger,"_ Elliot said.

Olivia didn't have to think about whether or not to tell Cragen the truth or not. She would do what she always did. Back Elliot's play. "Uh, Captain, it's my brother. I need to talk to him in private.

"Of course. I'm going to go see if I can get anything from the nurses about Nick," Cragen said before standing up and walking towards the nurse's station.

Olivia watched him leave and immediately gave Elliot her full attention. "Okay, I'm alone. Elliot, are you okay?"

"_I've been better," _Elliot answered.

"Warner found blood at the scene, your blood. How badly are you hurt?"

"_I took a bullet to the shoulder, but it's not bad. Right now I'm not worried about me though. I'm worried about my kids. Are they okay?" _Elliot asked worriedly.

Olivia wasn't sure she believed him about how bad his injury was, but she decided to first put his fears to rest. "They're all fine. I got Eli and we got the others to the station too. They're upset and worried about you, but they're safe."

"_Thank God. Okay, you just keep them safe, okay. Tell them I love them and I'll get back to them as soon as I can," _Elliot said.

"Elliot, wait. Tell me what's going on. Where are you?" Olivia asked.

"_I can't, Liv. I can't put you or any of the others at risk like that,"_ Elliot said.

"El, we're already at risk. This is not just about you. Whoever is responsible for this broke into my apartment," Olivia told him.

"_What? Are you okay?"_ Elliot asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I actually have you to thank for that. It happened after I got the call about Eli. I wasn't home when it happened," Olivia said.

"_Liv, I'm so sorry. They probably came after you to get to me," _Elliot said guiltily.

"I doubt that. Most of your enemies are my enemies. Besides, we don't think it's just about you and me. We think this is an attack on SVU," she said.

"_No, it can't be. This guy called me by name and the way he was attacking made it seem like a personal vendetta against me,"_ Elliot said.

"Elliot, my partner was shot," Olivia told him.

"_What?"_

"We were at Maureen's trying to get her and Kathleen to safety. My partner was waiting in the car and it was shot up while I was inside. Nick got hit bad. He's in surgery right now and he might not make it. Elliot, he wasn't on the squad when you were there. This can't just be about you and me," Olivia explained.

"_Oh my God! What the hell is going on?" _Elliot asked, mainly to himself.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out. Look, just tell me where you are so we can get you to safety," Olivia said.

"_No. Maybe you're right and this is about SVU, but either way, I can't risk my kids' lives by coming back. Kathy's already dead. I won't risk losing them too," _Elliot said.

Olivia cringed. She could hear the sadness and guilt in his voice. She knew Kathy's death was weighing heavily on him. "Okay, at least tell me where you are so that we can figure this out together. I can't come right away, but I will as soon as I know my partner will be okay."

Elliot was quiet on the other end of the line.

"Come on, El, I'm already in danger. Helping you isn't going to change that," Olivia told him.

"_I'm at my mother's old place at the beach. You know where it is, right?" _Elliot asked.

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can. Are you sure you're going to be okay until then. You're sure you're not hurt badly?" Olivia asked. She hated the idea of waiting to get to him, especially since he was hurt, but she couldn't leave Nick right now, especially not when it was her fault he was in the hospital.

"_I'll be fine."_

"Okay. If you get even the slightest inkling that you're not fine, call me, or better yet, get to a hospital," Olivia basically ordered him.

"_I'll see you soon, Liv," _Elliot said before hanging up.

Olivia sighed as she put her phone away. She was well aware that Elliot hadn't agreed to her last request and she didn't like it one bit. She wished with everything she had that she could go to him now.

Cragen soon made his way back to her. "Hey. Everything okay with Simon."

"What? Oh, yeah, everything's fine. Any word on, Nick?" Olivia asked.

Cragen shook his head and sat down. "He's still in surgery. I suggest we get comfortable. I have a feeling this is going to be a long night."

Olivia sighed. "Yeah, I'd say that assessment is correct."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Amanda was by Nick's car collecting evidence, including samples of his blood. She shuddered just thinking about it. This was someone she worked with every day and she was collecting samples of his blood. This had to be how the captain felt when he was processing Stabler's house.

"You okay?"

Amanda turned around to see Fin with a bag of shell casings in his hand. "This is just hard. I never thought I'd be processing the scene of a crime with a coworker as the victim."

Fin knelt down beside his partner. "It definitely ain't easy, is it? We gotta try to be objective though. Nick's in good hands and hopefully Elliot will be too. All we can do now is try to find out who's responsible.

Amanda took a deep breath and put her game face on. "It still doesn't make any sense, Fin. If this is about SVU, why go after Stabler? He's not with the department anymore. And if it is about him and Olivia, why go after Nick?"

"There are definitely holes," Fin agreed.

Amanda stood up and took a look at the car. It was a popular make and model and the color was black. "What kind of car does Stabler drive?"

Fin stood up too. "Well, unless he got a new one, it was a dark blue car with medium build. I don't remember the make or model though. Why, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that it was early in the morning when this happened. At this time of year, it would still be dark. I'm thinking that dark blue and Black would be almost indistinguishable in the dark," Amanda said.

Fin began to see where she was going with this. "The size is about right too and it was right outside Maureen Stabler's apartment."

"So our killer might have just seen a car similar to Stabler's with a guy inside that was similar in height and built," Amanda continued.

"Which means Nick was popped because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He wasn't targeted. He just had the bad luck of being mistook for Elliot," Fin concluded.

"So we're back to it being about him and Olivia," Amanda said.

"Yeah, it looks like. Alright, let's get all this to the lab and head back to the precinct. Munch should be arriving any minute and we'll need to explain what's going on," Fin said.

"I'll call the captain on the way and let him know our theory," Amanda said before following her partner towards his car.


	11. Chapter 11

Fin was at his desk on the phone calling in more bodies. They'd already managed to get dozens in, but they were calling in absolutely everybody. "I don't care if it's your day off. We've got a missing retired cop and another cop in surgery because of this bastard. Get your ass in here!" he demanded before slamming the phone.

"Another happy off duty cop I take it," Amanda said from her desk across from him.

"You know, you would think that two cops in danger would get a little more concern," Fin grumbled.

"Well, everyone who knew Stabler came running. That's something, right?" Amanda asked.

"Not enough. Where is Munch's ass? He should've been here an hour ago," Fin said.

"He was stuck in traffic for the last two hours."

Both detectives turned to see Munch coming their way.

"You'd be surprised how many people are on the road this early in the morning. Now would somebody like to tell me why I've been called back from my long weekend? And why this place looks like a zoo?" Munch asked. There were dozens of cops everywhere, more than would normally be around unless something out of the ordinary was going on.

Fin stood up. "Come on, let's talk in the captain's office."

Munch immediately followed his former partner into Cragen's office and shut the door. "Alright, what's going on?"

"It's bad, man. Someone broke into Elliot's house last night and killed his wife," Fin said.

Munch's mouth dropped open in horror. "Are you kidding me?"

"I look like I'm laughing?" It gets worse. Kathy was shot in front of Eli," Fin told him.

"Oh, God. Where's Elliot?" Munch asked.

"We don't know. He disappeared from the scene. He was hurt as well, but somehow he managed to get himself and Eli out of there," Fin said.

"How do you know? How do you know the attacker didn't get them?" Munch asked. He certainly hoped that wasn't the case, but he'd have to be an idiot not to consider the possibility.

"Because he got Eli to the Queen's Police Department. At the very least he was free and alive at that point," Fin said.

Munch nodded. "Does Liv know?"

"Yeah, she knows. It was her Queens called when Elliot left Eli. He had her business card," Fin said.

"Not surprising," Munch said. Elliot trusted Olivia more than anyone in the world. She was the one he'd trust with his child when he was in trouble and couldn't take care of the boy himself.

"It probably saved her life. While Liv was getting Eli, her apartment was broken into," he said.

Munch went wide-eyed. "My God! So Liv's a target too? Can this get any worse?"

"Yeah, Munch, it can. Liv and Nick went to tell Elliot's two oldest kids what happened. Nick waited outside and there was gunfire. He was hit bad," Fin said glumly.

Horror struck Munch again, if possible, even more so. "What? Nick was shot? Is he gonna be alright?"

"We don't know. He's critical now. Cragen and Liv are there waiting for him to get out of surgery," Fin said.

"This doesn't make any sense. Why Nick? He had nothing do with Elliot so why was he targeted?" Munch asked. When Fin had mentioned Elliot and Olivia both being attacked, he assumed that it was someone with a grudge against the two of them, but that didn't make sense with Nick's attack. Neither of them knew Nick when they were partnered.

"We don't think he was. We think it was a case of mistaken identity. It was dark out and he and Elliot have similar cars. We think this guy mistook him for Elliot," Fin explained.

"Okay, so we are saying this was an attack on Stabler and Benson?" Munch asked to be sure.

"The captain said to watch our backs just in case, but, yeah, that's what we're figuring," Fin said.

"Alright, what do we know so far?" Munch asked.

"Not much. We're still waiting for the lab to come back on bullets, but nothing yet. Amanda and I are going through Liv and Elliot's cases to find out who could've done this," Fin said.

"That's gonna take days. We don't have time for that," Munch said. Actually, he was being kind. It was going to take weeks. There were so many cases those two worked in the last twelve years. Finding their perp in the giant pile of those files was going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

"What else can we do? The bastard didn't leave any evidence of who he is at either crime scene. This is the only way we have of finding him," Fin said.

"No witnesses?" Munch asked.

Fin shook his head. "It was the middle of the night. A witness heard some things at the Stabler home, but they didn't see anything."

"So to sum up, Elliot and Olivia have both been targeted mere hours from each other, Nick was shot, we have no idea who is responsible, and we have no idea where Elliot is," Much summarized.

"Yeah, that sounds a bit right," Fin said.

Munch sighed. "Alright, you guys keep going with the files. I'm going to see if I can't figure out some way to find Elliot."

Fin nodded and led the way towards the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Olivia walked into Nick's room. It had been several hours, but he was finally out of surgery. The doctor had come to them a few minutes ago to tell them how it went. Nick was alive, but he was still in peril. The bullet had created significant internal bleeding and had destroyed one of his kidneys.

Olivia looked at Nick as she entered the room. He was hooked up to several machines and had a tube down his throat. She immediately went over to him and took his hand. "Hey. Looks like you made it through. Now you just have to fight the rest of the way back. Cragen's calling your wife. I'm sure you'll be here seen.

There was of course no response from Nick.

Olivia sighed. "I'm sorry, Nick. I'm sorry I asked you to wait outside. I should've told you to come in with me. If I had… none of this… none of this…"

She took a deep breath to keep herself from crying. "I'm just so sorry. I'm sorry this happened to you and I'm sorry I won't be here when you wake up." She'd decided to go to Elliot now. She couldn't wait for Nick to be out of the woods. God only knew how long that would take. Elliot didn't have time for that.

"Look, you're going to be okay. You have people here to help you. Elliot has no one. He needs me, and to be honest, I need him. You won't be far from my thoughts though. I'll be praying for you, Nick. I hope to God we see each other again, but if God forbid that doesn't happen, you've been a great partner," Olivia said. And it was true. He could never be the partner Elliot was, but he was good. She just hoped he got the chance to get better.

Olivia gave Nick's hand a squeeze. "You hang in there, okay? You've got so much to live for. You just hang in there. Goodbye, Nick," she said before letting go of his hand and heading for the door. It was time for her to go. It was time for her to get to Elliot and end this whole thing one way or another.


End file.
